MY COUNTRY NOTEBOOK

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 35

MY COUNTRY NOTEBOOK

By

MURIHIKU.

(Special for the Otago Witness.)

Whether it is a false spring or not it is certainly spring; and this is the time of the year when, seated in front of a good fire at nights, we pore over the seedsmen’s catalogues, dreaming of our wonderful gardens to be. All gardeners and farmers are confirmed optimists. Every farmer plans and schemes and works for “ a better farm next year.” And every gardener imagines that next season’s flowers will be brighter and better than ever.

There is something fascinating about a packet of seeds. Some of these packets bear wonderful pictures of flowers and vegetables—flowers that the eye has never seen, and vegetables we have only dreamed about. But even if there is uo picture on the outside there is always that fascinating rustle of dried, seeds. Every spring we buy our little packets, and run the contents from the envelope into our hands, admiring the gold and brown of the tiny seeds. And there is a certain attractive smell arising from most seeds, whether they be earrot seed or cosmos.

One thing that we should do in this country is to grow and eat more vegetables; At the Home Science School of Otago University many inquiries have been made during the past few years by Professor Strong, Dr Storm, and a brilliant research student, Miss Todhunter. The study was undertaken with a view to showing the inadequacy of New Zealand diets. To this end the examination was made of a considerable number of family menus. Records were kept of a large number of families, how much food was eaten, and what was the variety of the food. The menus were collected from people in all walks of life, and practically from Auckland to the Bluff.

It is not surprising that the investigations show that meat in all eases is eaten once a day, and on the average twice a day. In many cases meat was eaten three times a day on one or more days of the week. In a meat-producing country as this is, it is only to be expected that meat would be so prominent in the diet. It is a good source of protein, and some animal protein appears to be essential for good nutrition, but the investigators point out that it is questionable whether the use of meat more than once a day is advisable for children. For men working hard on a farm, obviously more meat can be used up in the daily work, but for children too much meat is a very serious matter.

When we come to the vegetable portion of the meals, it is pointed out that potatoes appear regularly once a day in every menu, and so only vegetables other than potatoes were estimated in this investigation. Vegetables appear only 6.2 times a week, or not once a day. In some cases they were used at more than one meal a day, but more often they were used only once or twice a week. In 2 per cent.’of the families potatoes alone were used. To meet the calcium requirements of growing children vegetables are, next to milk,°one of the best sources, therefore lack of vegetables must seriously affect the nutritive value of the diet. “ Green vegetables averaged only twice a week in the family menu, and 26 pei- cent, of the families never used them. Green vegetables are valuable for their content of iron and vitamin C. The lack of these is a serious factor in the nutrition of the growing child.”

Miss Todhunter points out that 25 per cent, of the families examined showed toast and tea as the average breakfast, and 38 per cent, of the families served bread, butter, jam, and cake for the evening meal one or more times a week. Such meals, she considers, are inadequate to meet the needs of the growing child or of the worker. Fruit and cereal food or a savoury dish could be added to many breakfasts to improve their nutritive value; and similarly the evening meal would be improved by replacing the jam and cake by a savoury dish, such as a vegetable cream soup or a combination of vegetables, milk and eggs, or cheese.

Now this is the time to put the vegetables in. It really is surprising that farmers will not grow more vegetables. All that is required is the expenditure of a few shillings in seeds, a bit of secure fencing, and a small amount of energy.

At last the Farmers’ Union has decided in conference that, as a union, it will not interfere in party politics. South Island farmers, as a body, never had any strong ideas along that’ line, but Auckland, in its growing pains, has been crying out for years for participation in party politics. The real trouble in the Fanners’ Union organisation is that there has been developed a set of chronic growlers, who can see no good in anything but keeping the farmer discontented. The union has done so much good, in the past that it is a pity that these talkative mischief makers should take such a hold on the executives.

With the great prospects there are for wool and lamb next season, and-with dairy produce so good, it is extremely difficult for interested people to con-

vince the farmer that he is down and out. For the farmer knows that once again he is fairly prosperous. One of the principal causes for rejoicing in New Zealand is that there is a world shortage of cheese. Canada was our chief competitor, but there is less cheese for export to Europe every year. The United States takes so much Canadian cheese nowadays, and millions of gallons of fresh milk travel over the border every day to the milk-drinking people of the United States.. With prohibition, the American milk supplier has benefited tremendously.

Where countries have bad roads, such as the Argentine, Esthonia, and Siberia, if they are dairying countries, they must make butter—for cream will keep and carry, while milk has to be used for cheese the day it is milked. So a country which specialises in cheese must have good roads. New Zealand, year by year, is becoming an exceedingly wellroaded country. Motor car owners may grumble at times, but the plain fact is that even in the last three years tremendous improvements have been made; and in the next three years, with the money from the petrol tax, our roads will improve past all recognition. The better the roads the more economical it will be to make cheese.

Coming to the immediate future of cheese, the Dairy Board reports that “ sales have been made 9jd to end of December make, and 9|d has been offered for the entire season’s make.” As a matter of fact some Southland factories have sold at 9 9-16 pence for some months. This means that cheese factories can pay out Is lOd per lb of butter-fat up to the end of January at any rate. It is no use telling the dairy farmer he is going to be hard up this year.

Butter will not be quite so good as cheese, but sales have been made at Is 5d per lb net f.o.b. for parcels of 1000 boxes for shipment each month from October to February inclusive to Eastern Canada; while offers of Is GJd for finest grade August shipment, Is Gd for finest grade September shipment, and Is s|d for finest grade October shipment have also been made. This means that butter factories up till the end of October will be able to pay somewhere round about Is 5d per pound. After that, of course, there may be a big supply on the London markets, and butter prices may sag as deplorably about Christmas time as they have done in the past. This is another case of where we must “ wait and see.”

While New Zealand is steadily going forward to a renewal of prosperity, we find that Mr Archibald M'Neilage’, one of the best informed agricultural writers in Scotland, recently declared, after a visit to Denmark, that in that country during the last year, taking all branches of agriculture into account, the capital invested in agriculture did not yield more than 1 per cent, return, while the very best returns did not exceed 2 per. cent. One of the best appointed factories in Denmark, catering solely for the British market, in past years paid dividends to its co-operative farmer shareholders varying from 5 to 15 per cent.: last year it paid no dividend. Yet it sells its products direct to about 100 big multiple shops in Great Britain, thereby getting as near into direct touch with the British consumers as possible. Mr M’Neilage then made the remarkable statement that of all’ the Danish bacon that goes to England, 99 per cent, of all that is produced, only 20 per cent, is classed as first grade, 35 per cent, second grade, and 45 per cent, third grade. These figures indicate that the standard of grading in Denmark is very high, which, of course, is a very good fault. But taking things all round, farmers in Denmark appear to be much worse off than farmers here in New Zealand.

The following appeared in last week’s Second Edition.